Assad looks increasingly isolated

This past weekend, Syrian Kurds met in the northern Iraqi town of Arbil to discuss their people's future after what increasingly looks like the impending fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Syrian Kurds are already working to ensure their rights after the regime goes under. They understand that this regime has no future. They also understand that there is no reason to fear the day after, but rather, that they need to adapt to the new situation that emerges in Syria.

Two months ago, the Arab League decided to suspend Syria from the organization. In addition, they imposed a series of sanctions against the Syrian regime and sent 195 monitors to the country. At the same time, the league proposed a road map, calling on Assad to transfer power to his deputy, Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa (who is Sunni), who would establish a temporary government with the opposition until parliamentary and presidential elections can take place at the earliest possible opportunity. The hundreds of people killed in Syria since then are proof of how all these attempts by the league have failed. With the exception of Qatar, no one in the Arab League or among Syria's neighbors has called for military intervention. Assad is aware of this and he therefore truly believes that all is not lost.

On Friday, Morocco submitted a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council aimed at supporting an Arab League plan for resolving the crisis in Syria. The Arab League "road map" was reworked and infused with international flavor: the signatories to this new draft resolution include Morocco, Qatar, the U.S., Germany, Britain, France and Portugal. But this new version has little chance of passing in the U.N., largely due to Russian and Chinese influence – but mainly Russian.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said that any decision to call for Assad's resignation "crosses a red line." Assad, thanks to Moscow, remains optimistic.

Meanwhile, the violence in Syria is intensifying. The opposition, convinced that Assad's days are numbered, has grown emboldened. The government, meanwhile, has realized that it could be defeated and has also stepped up its crackdown. The Syrian economy is also on the verge of a collapse. Tourism is nonexistent. The markets are empty and oil sanctions have resulted in $2 billion in losses. Even Khaled Mashaal, Hamas' Damascus-based political bureau chief, decided to leave Syria because he can no longer stand the horrific images. The man who is responsible for more than a few horrifying events himself understood, like the Kurds in Arbil, that Assad is finished and that he should side with the Sunni victims – or to be more exact – side with the Muslim Brotherhood.

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